Health Canada has listed C$6.27 million for 13 projects to improve substance use care and crisis response for Black communities under a national strategy to reduce justice-system disparities.
Health Minister Marjorie Michel announced the awards Oct. 20 under Canada’s Black Justice Strategy. The 13 amounts total C$6,269,770: nine Substance Use and Addictions Program awards account for C$3,842,329, and four awards for community mental health crisis response account for C$2,427,441.
Toronto and Ottawa are each listed for C$700,000 for work with existing non-police crisis services. Toronto will develop, pilot and evaluate training for its Toronto Community Crisis Service, which has operated citywide since 2024. Toronto City Council approved receipt of the one-year federal contribution in May and said the city would provide mainly staff time and other resources in kind.
Ottawa’s award is intended to extend its Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response service to more areas, including neighborhoods with large Black populations. The city expanded the service in June, before the federal announcement.
The other crisis-response awards include C$606,447 for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to develop online resources for community organizations and C$420,994 for the University of Toronto to develop tools for mental health professionals.
Among the substance use projects, Black Health Education Collaborative is listed for C$708,548 to train care providers. Humanitarian Solidarity for Development & Empowerment Canada is listed for C$198,001 for work with Black immigrant, refugee and newcomer youth in Winnipeg.
Canada’s 2025 implementation plan sets a 10-year framework for the Black Justice Strategy and identifies health as one factor affecting contact with the criminal justice system. Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the projects were intended to address causes linked to systemic racism beyond the justice system. The government’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement proposed C$8.8 million over two years, beginning in fiscal 2025-26, to expand related Health Canada programs.
Separately, Ottawa plans to publish an evaluation of its expanded crisis service in the fourth quarter of 2026 and present a case for further expansion in the first quarter of 2027, according to a June city memo.
